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Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Underestimated

I snuck out onto the porch to take some pictures of the quickly-growing Bill, Peeper and Cheep Cheep. I don't want to miss too much of their development! I snap, snap, snap away, slowing my shutter speed. "Wait..." I say after the first few pictures. I zoom up on my image.

Is that a fourth beak??? Snap, snap, snap a few more pictures at a lower shutter speed and higher ISO. I want detail in these chickies and as much color and light as I can get in their dark little cave. Hold the phone! Are there FIVE chicks in there???

Hmmm... zoom, zoom, zoom... Holy cow! I have highly underestimated my wren-chees! FIVE chicks. A typical clutch is 4, but my little ones have been working overtime. Now we have to come up with two more names! And I'm trying to imagine how they are all going to fit in there for another 7 days. According to my research, their eyes open on the 3rd day after hatching. That would make them having hatched on the 10th. Today will be day 7, and the average nesting period is 14 days. So on the 24th we should have five little fledglings. We have two young Mourning Doves (Pink Legs and Blue Bill) that fledged this spring and like our back deck and garden very much. Now we will have five little Carolina Wrens to add to the fun.

So I brought it up really close with my software, and it really does appear to be another eye back there. Don't know how I didn't notice it before. Don't know what else it could be. If it looks like a Carolina Wren eye, and acts like a Carolina Wren eye, it must be a Carolina Wren eye! I'm going to have to get some more pictures today to try to get them all in. SIX CHICKS!!! My wrens are ambitious...

Sure hope they can keep up with 6. I think I can see that eye too, now that Megan said where to look. Hope we didn't keep them away to much yesterday. But like you said, not sure how all 8 will fit in there as the chicks grow.Mom